There’s nothing prettier than a field in springtime. Today I took a walk with Ginger out back…up very wet lanes and through my field with water in all the low spots and ditches. There are dandelions coming up and tiny little specks of pale violet flowers that look like bits of paper in the grass they’re so small. Something people often forget is to stop and take a look back from where they came, for a different view or perspective.
"Looking Back" 4-18-2010
(Go here to see Note Cards of this painting: “Looking Back”)
I tried hard to find a spot I might sit and do some sketching, but the ground was too wet even for my plastic bag. As I turned to look back I thought I’d do I quick sketch of the house and field with my watercolor pan and waterbrush. I used just one brush for this, a large, juicy flat that lets water flow quite easily. A little messy but I was cold and my bag was heavy, I didn’t feel like standing too long, and neither did Ginger.
As we entered the field I noticed a flutter of blue out a ways, it was a male Blue Bird! He and his mate were perching on tops of bushes and flitting down to the ground to hunt or gather grasses. I think he was hunting bugs to impress her, as I never saw her fly down! I think he’s impressive! I shot a lot of pictures of him, though it was difficult with the wind whipping up and I was hand holding a very long lens. So some are a little fuzzy but still great for painting references.
"Two Bluebirds with an Angel"
(Link for note card with this Bluebird photo-Two Bluebirds with Angel I also have mugs in the link above, with this picture on it)
In the photo above, I had a little fun playing with a setting on my photo program under “Effects”, it’s called “mirror”. The cool thing is when I flipped the image, an angel appeared in the centre! I think it could make a good inspiration for a painting!, I’ll have to think about this.
And last I leave you with a gorgeous photo of Long Lane in springtime. How pretty this is, a simple lane of grass with bushes…blue sky and budding leaves. But there’s something more perhaps, a promise of new beginnings? A full summer of growth? It makes me forget about “Looking Back” at the past..time to look ahead to what’s coming anew!
Hope you enjoyed this walk with me, please leave me comments below.
Don’t forget to visit my Zazzle shop to see lovely note-cards, prints, t-shirts and other gifts with my photographs and art on it.
This is a sketch I did back in September but didn’t have time to post it, thought I’d share it now.
Dunstanburgh castle sketch
Just thought I’d put this little tiny sketch up. Gary and I ended up here pretty late on a windy cold evening, but I still managed to sketch with my ink pen and wearing fingerless gloves. It was more like a shilhouette at this point, but as I started it I could still see the grass in front of it. It was scribbled pretty fast because I was so cold!
Dunstanburgh Castle at sunset
Dunstanburgh Castle is on the East coast of Northumberland, just a short walk along the sea from the harbour Town of Crastor. We walked along with the rocky coast to our right, an area I’d love to explore more in the day time. Quite aways from the castle still is a fence with a gate you enter, there was a bench right there we decided to just sit because it had gone dark. That’s where I did my quicky sketch from, yet though it was quick, because I DID take the time to do it, I remember so much more about being there. Sometimes I prefer a scribbly looking sketch to a perfectly neat and tidy one, it can be much more expressive about the day or the feeling.
Town of Craster
Craster was small and quaint, has a kipper smokehouse, fishermen’s houses and a pub..perhaps a hotel? There is a small bay you can see here (though I know it’s dark!) where the fishing boats come in.
small book-cover sketchbook
This is a picture of the special little sketchbook I made up. Once in awhile I throw this in my bag when I want to carry less and know I’ll be somewhere where quick sketches will be done. It’s an old book my kids didn’t want any more so I pulled the pages out to make this. (ouch, I know book lovers!! It was painless believe me) I cut nice watercolor paper the same height as the book and folded it acordian style to go inside, taping both ends onto the cover. I put a big rubber band around it to keep it shut or open to a certain page while drawing.
Here’s a very small sketch (4″x5″) that I did outside in the freezing cold. The sun had set and twilight time was coming, when the snowy landscape takes on a bluish cold tone. I tried to use my waterbrush but the water was freezing on the paper too fast and in the bristles! So I used my permanent ink pen and that was scraping the ice off the paper, I had to laugh a bit, I’ve never tried to watercolor when it was this cold. I colored it inside after thawing my fingers out.
Below I included the small page of notes that I wrote about the sketch.
We drove across England to take part in the Buxton Book fair held in the Pavillion Gardens in Buxton. We got up at 2:30 am and we left around 5am…oh wow was I tired today! I did this little watercolor sketch while sitting at my table, between talking to people. You can see I was most interested in the gorgeous tall windows and the view of the fall trees outside.
At Buxton book fair.
Here’s one part of my set up selling Limited Edition prints, open edition prints and note cards. I had a lot of fun chatting with the local people who came by my table and bought my cards.
Windows of the Pavillion
Stage in the Pavillion at Buxton book fair.
Here’s a photo of the stage as you look across the room, it was a gorgeous old Victorian building with hardwood floors. a cafe and a shop filled with local artists works.
In the sea of books.
I never saw as many books!!, well not since I worked as a librarian in college at the Buffalo State College library. I wish I had more time to shop, I loved seeing the old book cover designs. Next time I’ll try to take pictures of some.
We went to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, on the Scottish border on two occasions. I found it to be a nice town to walk through, you can shop or just a few streets over is the water front, complete with an old fort you can walk about on. It’s on the River Tweed and that’s where it gets it’s name.
Berwick-upon-Tweed unfinished
The first visit I only had time to start a small watercolor of the houses in the town while sitting on the grassy wall of the fort. Here it is unfinished above.
Berwick cemetery gate
This is an old gate to the cemetery of a church right behind the grassy walls of the fort. I didn’t have much time to do a nice painting but really just wanted to study the colors of the stones used in the wall. I also didn’t have the nice sunshine you see coming through the gate while I worked, it popped out just for the photo. If I ever have time I’ll go back to the sketch and add more details in the stones from my photos.
Painting the gate
Here’s a picture of me working on the gate, you can see I’m sitting on the grass but am using a foldable foam pad to keep the moisture and chill away. I still always get so stiff when I sit on the ground like this, I think it’s the position for my back, no support. I’m holding my sketchbook with the pan of colors on the left hand side. I’m also using a ‘real’ brush not my waterbrush to do this, I have a container of water sitting on the ground nearby.
Painting the gate view 2
Below are some photos of the biuldings in Berwick-Upon-Tweed
biuldings in Berwick
Town Hall
Skyline of Berwick
Tweed Mouth Dock Fort
This is the fort in Berwick called Tweed Mouth Dock.
Ship coming in
Here’s a ship coming into harbour.
Hopefully I’ll get another chance to go back and work on some longer studies. It’d be a nice town to spend a weekend in, I saw lots of couples walking about hand in hand going to shops.
Keep checking back, more updates from England coming!
Hello Folks! Well as they say it’s been a “dog’s age” since I’ve updated my blog. I left you with a study of the Groundhog or Woodchuck in August just before I left for my trip to England. Well I’ve made the journey and have been staying in Northumberland for a few months time. I’ve been hiking all over this beautiful region and taking tons of photos for painting references, but as you can see got way behind on my blog. Well, my focus has been off sketching and on absorbing the local views and country life. I also don’t have easy access to a scanner, so what I’ve finally figured out is how to photograph my sketchbook pages and edit them to brighten the contrast so you can see them better. With that said, I’ll have lots of posts coming up now with my sketches and lots of photography of the scenes and nature. Please add your email address to the little box in the right column to be notified of new posts.
Buffalo Airport
The little watercolor above was done while waiting for my flight at the Buffalo International Airport. I used a waterbrush and my favorite pan of colors that I put together myself. The little color notes at the bottom are for the Mourning Cloak Butterfly, I was looking for the right colors to do his wings. Just before I left Buffalo I got some great pictures of one that I wanted to do a sketch of.
On the Mark
Here you can see the ground crew guiding the jet in.
Jet Sketch
This is a very quick sketch in ink of the jet once it pulled up, they drove a box like cart up to it and this is what it hitched to. It was really hard to get the gentle swell of the outline of this jet, as always I did it for practice. It isn’t symetrical because the jet was at a tiny angle to me, not straight on. Then it started to move, so I scribbled faster!!
Window Views
When we were over Newark NJ the sun was setting, I had to do the sketch very quickly as we were preparing to land soon. When I departed for Scotland it was an all night flight, I landed in Edinburgh then was driven down to England. The little ink sketch is the window and it’s view. The pencil of the butterfly is what I did while we were flying from my photo of the Mourning Cloak.
Today was gorgeous so I set out for a nice long trek on my farm property. There is a lane that runs the length of my property called “Long Lane” and halfway along it is “The Maze”, an area that I cut circular paths on with a brush hog, that intersect and create a sort of ‘maze’. My boys liked to use it years ago for paint ball games, but I find that it’s a great place to see certain birds. The “Maze” is surrounded by relatively new bush growth and two tree lines, one containing old growth oaks. I have found the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks like it, and every Spring I can find the Rufus Sided Towhee singing there. Just along the “Oak Lane” bordering the “Maze” I hear the wonderful melodies of the Wood Thrush and sometimes a Veery.
Long Lane Farm Hike pg2 5-22-09
I’ve been searching for that elusive Wood Thrush to catch his picture, but it’s much easier to hear him than see him. Today I saw and or heard 26 different birds! I have them all listed on my sketch page, I use a dot showing I’ve heard it, a check mark for those I’ve actually seen.
Long Lane Farm Hike pg3 5-22-09
I do have photos I took while sitting at the Maze; the great thing about sketching or painting in nature is as you sit quietly birds can surprise you out of nowhere. Here are a variety of photos from my hike though some may be a bit blurry, I was so excited to be able to zoom in so close with my camera, but hand holding a big lens when zooming is tough. But I have found that when I look at them on my computer I can see so much more than in the field, and they’re great to use for painting references. Enjoy!
Dandilion
Eastern Kingbird
Field Sparrow
Field Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow
The Eastern Kingbird was sooo far up in a huge oak tree that I wasn’t sure what it was at first…so beautiful to watch; he’d fly right up into the sky from the tree top and do some acrobatics to catch his bug dinner, then back to the tree top. The Field Sparrow has such a pretty song, a song to me that means summer. The Song Sparrow just sat on the branch for a bit, all fluffed up, then he settled down even more and puffed like a fat little plumpkin!
Hawthorn in Bloom
Ginger Resting at the Maze
Yellow Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 2
After our time at the Maze we walked out to the “Enchanted Forest”, sometimes called “The Emerald Forest”; the trees there are so mystical almost, it’s so green and beautiful. It’s there that I saw the Veery, wow! , I caught sight of it on the tree not far from me, and I think it was trying to hide by not moving. It didn’t sing, but moved around a bit, I can’t tell you how lucky I was to snap a few pictures!
Enchanted Forest
Veery
I hope you enjoyed this beautiful walk with me today! Please leave me comments and don’t forget to visit my shop to see my paintings, sketches and photographs on note cards, mugs, t-shirts…many gift items!
Today I’ll take you to the Marina at Derwent water where I stayed overnight at The Derwent Hotel. It’s a gorgeous place to stay all newly refinished, the bedroom was just sumptuous! And oh yes, I really liked that they had internet so I could catch up with the folks at home and let them know I wasn’t lost somewhere in the English countryside! This is the front lobby, coming down in the early morning to have my oatmeal made with cream and oh boy was it rich!
Then I made my way across the street and just down a driveway and there you are…the marina. A small, uncomplicated, peaceful place so early in the morning. http://www.derwentwatermarina.co.uk/Walking toward the water…I took note of birds I saw, almost all were new to me, how exciting!
I love when the mist is lower than the mountains around it, the puffs were making their way up each ‘valley’ from the lake. Small coots were chugging across the still water looking for fish…I did some small sketches of birds and wrote my bird list on the sketch page shown below.
Click the page to read my notes.
These are simple sketches done while walking around, this is typically how I draw birds in the field. Not much to them, just identification notes, and I had my Altoids watercolor kit with me and did some simple coloring. I think one of my favorite birds was the wood pidgeon; with a flash of white on his wings when he flew from the deep trees where hidden. They are quite big compared to ‘our’ rock doves or pidgeons.
Later in the day I walked up the hill behind the hotel. It was very chilly and damp as I sat and worked. I did a small sketch of the lake view over the hotel, trying to get some color notes on it so I’d remember how it looked. I think my friend Gary arrived just in time though as my fingers were getting quite stiff! Time for hot tea!
I just finished the sketch,(back home in the states) working from a dull photo because it was a dull day. I sat in a coffee/lunch area in the grocery store on a nasty snowy day and worked on it…then finished it in the comfort of my studio. I perked up the color a little trying to keep in mind the original colors I had on the paper. I signed it Lake Derwent before I learned that it’s called Derwent Water. By the way, I did the entire painting using one waterbrush and my travel palette. I’m trying to practice using the waterbrush so it’ll come naturally in the field.
I think it’s a nice little painting!
I think the painting will always mean something different to the artist who painted it in the field. As I sat and sketched, then painted…I absorbed all around me. My eyes studied the colors, my ears heard wrens and thrushes singing, the wind blowing through the pines, my fingers felt the cool rain drops and mist, my face felt the breeze and my nose smelled the wet leaves and mosses in the undergrowth behind me…and the smells of the kitchen below. As I look at that little painting…I can remember it all! THIS is what makes painting outside in nature so rewarding, and it’s why I do it. I hope you’ll join me someday in experiencing this feeling.
Today was my second day at Muncaster Castle. I’ve uploaded a video for you to listen to at the end of this post, don’t miss it!
I was invited by Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington to visit he and his wife Philida for coffee in the morning at the castle, they are the couple who own the stately castle. How wonderful does that sound? I was also invited to bring my sketch book and my prints to share with them. Patrick had to meet with the woodsman who oversees the property so Philida, a wonderful person to share time with, and I sat on a silk covered couch in the library and enjoyed hot tea. We chatted about my artwork and the castle. The picture below shows some of the library, it was filled with wonderful paintings, antiquities and memorabilia. I like the miniature chairs on the table. Since it was before the general public was allowed in, I was left to wander freely about the library on the ‘other’ side of the rope! I wish I had a whole week to spend wandering around and drawing the interior of the castle. Below is a little painting I did while up on the balcony of the library. The library is round and if you look up you’ll see there is a balcony with iron railings that goes all around it way up above. Well I was given a big old ancient key and told that I could use it to unlock the door to the balcony at my leisure! I did go up there and it was a little scary, you had to watch your step, the floor boards were old and the ramp around was quite narrow! But I’m adventurous…I wanted to explore! About the little painting, I had my painting kit on my waist, my small field palette, little bottle of water, small brushes and held the sketchbook while I worked. I set some things on the window sill and looked out over the valley through the very old and very drafty windows. It was blowing up a gale and very chilly outside, so I was glad to be in. This is a cherub statue with more antiquities and wonderful stained glass. I was walking down the stairs, a wide expanse of marble…and tourists were milling about with wonder in their eyes, and appeared Patrick. Patrick is a talented poet bard…and not shy. He stood on the stairs of their castle and recited one of his wonderful poems to all the visitors. He is genuinely interested in all who visit his castle! Another view out a window in the great hall, everywhere you turned there were beautiful things to look at.
Then I picked a window just outside the billiard room to draw. I was in a narrow hall way outside it, so people were walking by, but I stood up as I drew this with my charcoal pencils, a stiff brush and tortillion. It was so chilly, but one of the ladies that worked at the castle, Candy, brought me hot tea! How nice was that? Very nice!! The perspective on this window was tricky, you have to remember when drawing NOT to draw what you think, but what you SEE, in the end it will (or should) come together. It’s funny how when you stop to draw other people stop and look, wondering at what is so interesting! I like the way the blustery clouds came out through the window. This last photo is from the Tapestry room and shows a Tudor carved fireplace, it commemorates the victory over the Spanish Armada. I just loved looking at all the carvings throughout the castle. I really do wish I had more time to draw what I saw, but relied on taking photos to use later for drawing. This is a video clip taken at my window sill which overlooked the owl yard…every morning I was greeted by the song of a European Robin singing.
Well, I’m finally home from my big adventure in England and Ireland! I have so much to share about my hikes, the people I met and of course my sketches and photos. It’s taken me awhile to get back on track with the time changes and catching up on things around the house, paying bills etc. That’ll never change!
This is a sketch done while waiting at Gate 6, Buffalo Airport, it’s watersoluble color pencil. Oh it was so cold, the air conditioning was on too high. I wrote a note on my sketch, “I’m glad for my wool hoodie I made”. For my trip I designed a nice pull over wool hoodie, lined with cotton, it came in handy on the flight. I could pull the hood up to help block out the noise, light and keep warm. My flight leaves at 5:40pm.Backing away from the gate at Philadelphia airport, on the way to Gatwick airport in London. It should take 6 hours or so. I sleep a little, it was nice and dark. At 1:33 am (my time) I woke and saw the sun coming up. It was almost surreal because we floated above the clouds and the sun colors were below…while the stars were still up in the dark sky. I could see the Big Dipper, it was odd because we were above it more than I’m used to. (I learned in England they call it the Great Plow, I would point to it and say…”oh, look at the big dipper!…I’d be corrected and told that it’s the Great Plow.) I pulled out my sketchkit, my pad, watersoluble colorpencils, waterbrush and my little reading light. I hung the reading light on the collar of my hoodie and did my sketch by it’s light only. The whole plane was very dark and quiet, everyone was sleeping. I felt like a kid awake in bed at night with the little light on, trying not to wake anyone else!Oh what a trip it turned into, I had to wait so long in line at Gatwick that my plane for Newcastle upon Tyne left without me! After waiting a few hours while they looked for my misplaced luggage, I had to catch a train, then a subway, then another train all the way up to Newcastle. Needless to say I was exhausted when I hit the other end. There was extensive flooding in Morpeth nearby and the trains weren’t running, lucky I made it! Below is a picture from the plane, as we come over England…Oh gosh I was excited!Well, I’ll try to get more about my trip up soon. I’ll start with my adventure at Muncaster Castle in Ravenglass. Keep checking back to read about it all…better yet, leave your name in the box at the right and you’ll get an automatic email when I do.
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